UCU head against Israeli academic boycott

A lecturers' union leader is to ask her members to ignore calls for an academic boycott of Israel.

Sally Hunt, general secretary of the University and College Union (UCU), is expected to tell conference delegates later today that the issue should not be a major priority for the union and that a boycott is unlikely to win majority support from members.

She will tell delegates on the opening day of the union's inaugural national congress in Bournemouth: "I simply do not believe that the majority of UCU members support an academic boycott of Israel or that they believe it should be a major priority for the union.

"Most want us to retain dialogue with trade unionists on all sides - not just those we agree with. It's the approach we have in Zimbabwe and Colombia and it's the approach I think we should have here."

Her comments will come ahead of the debate on the Israeli boycott, a controversial issue at previous annual conferences of the Natfhe and the Association of University Teachers (AUT) before they merged to form the UCU last year.

Ms Hunt was general secretary of the AUT in 2005 when the union backed an academic Israeli boycott, but it caused such controversy that the union had to hold another special meeting at which it was rejected.

Natfhe has supported boycotts in the past. Last year, the union agreed to continue the boycott but the policy was dissolved when the union merged to form the UCU only hours later.

Ms Hunt is also due to use her first speech as general secretary to address issues nearer home.

She will say that the government's education policy is "crazy... shameful... and appalling" and lacks a strategic approach.

She will say that while the government wants to put lifelong learning at the centre of its agenda it is at the same time cutting funds for adult learners by 17%.

Ms Hunt will say that despite "warm words from ministers" about science, the government is closing laboratories as fast as they are being built in China.

The general secretary will also refer to government policy that prioritises community care "yet our members who train nurses are made redundant to fund NHS deficits."

She will tell delegates in Bournemouth: "This is not education policy. This is a catalogue of misaligned objectives each with unintended but entirely predictable consequences.

"The reality of government policy for too many UCU members is job insecurity, increased casualisation and higher workloads."